HP’s Biggest Fear? Cybersecurity, Says CEO Dion Weisler

What is HP’s biggest fear? Not tariffs or macroeconomic issues, but cybersecurity, says president and CEO Dion Weisler.

“It’s an ongoing battle against the bad guys, but we’re investing heavily in this space,” Weisler said to CRN.

And those investments are paying off: commercial net revenue from personal systems in the quarter rose 7% from a year earlier, due to new cybersecurity capabilities within the systems, he said. But that’s not all: the Palo Alto, Calif.-based information technology company has been investing in security in the company “across the board.”

“It’s really important for us in both printing and personal systems. We think it’s highly differentiated,” Weisler said. “Our customers believe it is — that’s why demand for our products is really strong. And our partners understand it as well.”

One example is HP’s malware protection software. “We’re leveraging AI to really go beyond where the industry currently is, which relies on known signatures, to being able to learn for itself without knowing the signatures,” Weisler said.

For the fiscal second quarter that ended April 30, HP posted “better-than-expected” financial results, according to Barron’s. While revenue of

$14 billion was flat, Non-GAAP net income was 53 cents a share, two cents above the Street consensus of 51 cents, and up from 48 cents a year earlier. On a GAAP basis, profits were 51 cents a share, down from 64 cents a year earlier.

“In Q2, as you can see from our results, we are delivering on our plans, demonstrating strong execution and progress on our priorities,” Weisler said. “Our strategy remains consistent, to engineer experiences that amaze while driving profitable growth. We are striking the right balance between driving results for today and investing for the long term.”

Originally from Australia, Weisler became president and CEO of HP in 2015, “after leading the company through one of the largest and most complex separations in corporate history,” the company states on its website.

Weisler joined HP in January 2012, serving as senior vice president and managing director, printing and personal systems, Asia Pacific and Japan. In June 2013 he became executive vice president of printing and personal systems for the entire company until he was tapped for the top post.

Before joining HP, Weisler was the vice president and chief operating officer of Lenovo’s product and mobile internet digital home groups, and led the global transaction model worldwide. Before that he was the general manager of Korea, ASEAN and ANZ.

Earlier in his career, Weisler was general manager at Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications company, where he was responsible for Telstra’s conferencing and collaboration products and services. Weisler also worked at Acer for 11 years, ultimately becoming managing director of Acer UK after establishing and operating the company’s business in Central and Eastern Europe.

He’s No. 61 on Chief Executive and RHR International’s CEO1000 Tracker, a ranking of the top 1,000 public/private companies

Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.

Age: 51

Education:A degree in electrical engineering from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and an MBA from INSEAD in France

First joined company: 2012

Prior to joining HP: Lenovo

Named CEO: 2015